Information handling devices with touch-based reflective display

ABSTRACT

Devices, methods and products are described that provide information handling devices with touch-based reflective display. One aspect provides a method including: providing a first configuration for one or more areas of a touchable control area of an information handling device, said first configuration comprising a designation of one or more areas of said touchable control area, said one or more areas providing both reflective display and accepting touch-based input, wherein said reflective display substantially only draws power when the display contents are changed; ascertaining a power state; updating said first configuration for said one or more areas of said touchable control area associated with the ascertained power state.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/222,667, filed Aug. 31, 2011, entitled“INFORMATION HANDLING DEVICES WITH TOUCH-BASED REFLECTIVE DISPLAY” thecontents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter described herein generally relates to use ofreflective display technology with information handling devices.Information handling devices, such as laptop computers, slate/tabletcomputers, smart phones, e-readers, cellular/mobile phones, externalkeyboards and key pads, remote controls and the like, include a varietyof input devices allowing the user of an information handling device tointerface with the device. Touchable controls can be fully mechanical(such as actual, physical keys) or fully on-screen (non-mechanicalsoftware implementations, with or without a touchscreen). Mechanicalimplementations provide familiar key positions, key layout, tactilequality, and legibility of key labels. On-screen or soft controls enablecustomization and dynamic updates through a software interface.

Displays for information handling devices have included touchscreendisplays, such as used in laptop computers, tablet computers andmobile/cellular phones, as well as reflective display technology. Forexample, reflective display technology has commonly been used inconnection with display devices for e-readers using reflective displaytechnology such as E-INK or MARISOL displays.

External keyboards exist that utilize individual OLED (organic LED)displays on top of physical (mechanical) keys, as implemented in astand-alone keyboard such as the OPTIMULS MAXIMUS keyboard. A mobilephone (SAMSUNG ALIAS 2™) exists that uses segmented reflective displaytechnology, such as E-INK display, atop of standard cellular phone(mechanical) keys to provide a limited set of controls. In this phone,the display contents are dependent on the orientation of the cellularphone.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In summary, one aspect provides a method comprising: providing a firstconfiguration for one or more areas of a touchable control area of aninformation handling device, said first configuration comprising adesignation of one or more areas of said touchable control area, saidone or more areas providing both reflective display and acceptingtouch-based input, wherein said reflective display substantially onlydraws power when the display contents are changed; ascertaining a powerstate; updating said first configuration for said one or more areas ofsaid touchable control area associated with the ascertained power state.

Another aspect provides an information handling device comprising: oneor more processors; a display device; a touchable control area; and amemory device; wherein, responsive to execution of computer programinstructions accessible to the one or more processors, the one or moreprocessors: provide a first configuration for one or more areas of thetouchable control area, said first configuration comprising adesignation of one or more areas of said touchable control area, saidone or more areas providing both reflective display and acceptingtouch-based input, wherein said reflective display substantially onlydraws power when the display contents are changed; ascertain an powerstate transition event for updating said first configuration for saidone or more areas of said touchable control area to a power statespecific configuration; and update said first configuration for said oneor more areas of said touchable control area responsive to said powerstate transition event.

A further aspect provides a program product comprising: a storage mediumhaving program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising:computer readable program code that provides a first configuration forone or more areas of a touchable control area of an information handlingdevice, said first configuration comprising a designation of one or moreareas of said touchable control area, said one or more areas providingboth reflective display and accepting touch-based input, wherein saidreflective display substantially only draws power when the displaycontents are changed; computer readable program code configured toascertain an power state transition event for updating said firstconfiguration for said one or more areas of said touchable control areato a power state specific configuration; and computer readable programcode configured to update said first configuration for said one or moreareas of said touchable control area responsive to said power statetransition event.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is notintended to be in any way limiting.

For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other andfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example circuitry of an information handlingdevice.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example circuitry of an information handlingdevice.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example touchable control area and example layersthereof.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example touchable control area.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for updating a touchable controlarea.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method for executing function(s) using atouchable control area.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example default power-on touchable control area.

FIG. 8(A-D) illustrates an example of user configuring of a touchablecontrol area.

FIG. 9(A-B) illustrates examples of button press configuring of atouchable control area.

FIG. 10(A-C) illustrates examples of automatic configuring of atouchable control area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations inaddition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following moredetailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in thefigures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, asclaimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant artwill recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other methods,components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obfuscation.

While reflective display technology has been used in various devices,such as for displays in e-readers and on mobile/cellular telephonephysical keys individually, each has significant shortcomings. Existingimplementations of reflective display technology, such as E-INK orMARISOL display technologies, have not been utilized in combination withtouch-based input devices, such as used in a touchscreen display deviceusing capacitive touch-based input sensing, or using resistive,inductive, or other forms of touch-based input sensing. Existingreflective displays also do not provide haptic feedback. Moreover,existing implementations of reflective display technology have not beenadapted to dynamically adjust to running applications, power stateconditions, use-case conditions, manual configuration by users, etcetera. Additionally, as opposed to dot matrix E-INK, segmented E-INK,as used atop mechanical keys in a mobile phone, affords only a limitedvariation of rendered content. Accordingly, the existing uses ofreflective display technology with information handling devices arequite limited.

Embodiments provide a display incorporating reflective displaytechnology, for example E-INK or MIRASOL, within a touchable controlarea of an information handling device. The touchable control area mayinclude a touch-based sensing layer, a haptic feedback layer, and anaudible feedback means, or some suitable combination of the foregoing.

A touchable control area may be implemented as a module and occupydifferent portions of an information handling device. For example, thetouchable control area may be implemented in a separate area, such as adiscrete module located within an integrated keyboard of a laptopcomputer, a discrete module located within a stand alone keyboard, adiscrete module located in place of a touchpad, or the control area maybe implemented in combination with an existing display component, suchas occupying a portion of a touchscreen display, a portion of ane-reader reflective display, et cetera. The touchable control area mayfurther occupy all or substantially all of an area, such as replacingall or substantially all of the area occupied by a conventionaltouchscreen display, replacing all or substantially all of an integratedlaptop keyboard, or replacing all or substantially all of an e-readerreflective display.

An embodiment provides touch-based control. For example, an embodimentmay utilize a capacitive layer and a capacitive touch controller. Forexample, the capacitive layer may include indium tin oxide (ITO) tracesin combination with a rigid reflective display layer. Capacitivelayer(s) will be used as a non-limiting example throughout; however,other means, such as inductive and resistive sensing means, areacceptable.

Embodiments may create touchable function “tiles” or areas (sub-areas ofa touchable control). Any or all of these areas may be used alone or incombination with one another, and may be dynamically updated orconfigured. Embodiments may update the content rendered, usingreflective display technology, on one or more of the tiles for examplevia use of a micro-controller. The number, size, reflective display andassociated function(s) of the rendered tiles, and associated touchzones, may vary based on the number of controls desired at a given time,the emphasis given to each control in a particular use case, and thelike. For example, more commonly used controls for a given runningapplication may be displayed, as ascertained by consulting a userhistory, with most commonly used controls being displayed as larger ormore prominent tiles. Because the touchable control area incorporatesreflective display technology, the power draw is very low, for exampleessentially only drawing power when the display contents are changed(updated, configured, reconfigured).

Additionally, as capacitive sense based touch controls may operate inlow power states, the touchable control area is suitable for replacing adedicated power button (and thus may provide power-on/resume control).The z-direction sensitivity of the capacitive sense may be adjusteddynamically, for example based on system state to enable/disable“hover”, such that a user's hands or another feature, such as a displaylid, may enter the sensing zone to trigger different actions withoutactually touching the tiles. For example, sequential movement acrossadjacent touch zones may trigger unique gesture events. In the case ofhover, actually touching the tiles is not required. Additionally, haptic(force or vibration) response may optionally be added to the touchablecontrol area to provide haptic feedback, such as used to emulate thetactile feedback of a mechanical control. Additionally, audible feedbackmay be provided, similarly to haptic feedback.

The illustrated example embodiments will be best understood by referenceto the figures. The following description is intended only by way ofexample, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.

While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized,FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of one example of information handlingdevice circuits, circuitry or components. The example depicted in FIG. 1may correspond to computing systems such as the THINKPAD series ofpersonal computers sold by Lenovo (US) Inc. of Morrisville, N.C., orother devices. As is apparent from the description herein, embodimentsmay include other features or only some of the features of the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1.

The example of FIG. 1 includes a so-called chipset 110 (a group ofintegrated circuits, or chips, that work together, chipsets) with anarchitecture that may vary depending on manufacturer (for example,INTEL, AMD, ARM, et cetera). The architecture of the chipset 110includes a core and memory control group 120 and an I/O controller hub150 that exchanges information (for example, data, signals, commands, etcetera) via a direct management interface (DMI) 142 or a link controller144. In FIG. 1, the DMI 142 is a chip-to-chip interface (sometimesreferred to as being a link between a “northbridge” and a“southbridge”). The core and memory control group 120 include one ormore processors 122 (for example, single or multi-core) and a memorycontroller hub 126 that exchange information via a front side bus (FSB)124; noting that components of the group 120 may be integrated in a chipthat supplants the conventional “northbridge” style architecture.

In FIG. 1, the memory controller hub 126 interfaces with memory 140 (forexample, to provide support for a type of RAM that may be referred to as“system memory” or “memory”). The memory controller hub 126 furtherincludes a LVDS interface 132 for a display device 192 (for example, aCRT, a flat panel, a projector, et cetera). A block 138 includes sometechnologies that may be supported via the LVDS interface 132 (forexample, serial digital video, HDMI/DVI, display port). The memorycontroller hub 126 also includes a PCI-express interface (PCI-E) 134that may support discrete graphics 136.

In FIG. 1, the I/O hub controller 150 includes a SATA interface 151 (forexample, for HDDs, SDDs, 180 et cetera), a PCI-E interface 152 (forexample, for wireless connections 182), a USB interface 153 (forexample, for devices 184 such as a digitizer, keyboard, mice, cameras,phones, storage, other connected devices, et cetera), a networkinterface 154 (for example, LAN), a GPIO interface 155, a LPC interface170 (for ASICs 171, a TPM 172, a super I/O 173, a firmware hub 174, BIOSsupport 175 as well as various types of memory 176 such as ROM 177,Flash 178, and NVRAM 179), a power management interface 161, a clockgenerator interface 162, an audio interface 163 (for example, forspeakers 194), a TCO interface 164, a system management bus interface165, and SPI Flash 166, which can include BIOS 168 and boot code 190.The I/O hub controller 150 may include gigabit Ethernet support.

The system, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code 190for the BIOS 168, as stored within the SPI Flash 166, and thereafterprocesses data under the control of one or more operating systems andapplication software (for example, stored in system memory 140). Anoperating system may be stored in any of a variety of locations andaccessed, for example, according to instructions of the BIOS 168. Asdescribed herein, a device may include fewer or more features than shownin the system of FIG. 1.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, with regard to smart phone and/ortablet circuitry 200, an example includes an ARM based system (system ona chip) design, with software and processor(s) combined in a single chip210. Internal busses and the like depend on different vendors, butessentially all the peripheral devices (220) may attach to a single chip210. In contrast to the circuitry illustrated in FIG. 1, the tabletcircuitry 200 combines the processor, memory control, and I/O controllerhub all into a single chip 210. Also, ARM based systems 200 do nottypically use SATA or PCI or LPC. Common interfaces for example includeSDIO and I2C. There are power management chip(s) 230, which manage poweras supplied for example via a rechargeable battery 240, which may berecharged by a connection to a power source (not shown), and in at leastone design, a single chip, such as 210, is used to supply BIOS likefunctionality and DRAM memory.

ARM based systems 200 typically include one or more of a WWANtransceiver 250 and a WLAN transceiver 260 for connecting to variousnetworks, such as telecommunications networks and wireless basestations. Commonly, an ARM based system 200 will include a touchscreen270 for data input and display. ARM based systems 200 also typicallyinclude various memory devices, for example flash memory 280 and SDRAM290.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment provides an information handlingdevice 300 with a touchable control area 310. The touchable control areaincludes a reflective display technology layer 301. The reflectivedisplay technology layer provides for low power visual display, and maybe selected for example from EINK or MARISOL display technologies, asnon-limiting examples. The reflective display layer may provide colordisplay as well. The touchable control area 310 also includes atouch-based sensing layer 302, which may be a capacitive touch basedlayer as, by way of example, inclusion of ITO capacitive traces. Thetouchable control area 310 may also include a haptic layer 303,available from vendors such as Immersion Corp., which providestouch-based feedback. Similarly, audible feedback may be provided incombination with other layers.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the touchable control area 310 islocated in the upper portion of a standard QWERTY keyboard layout 320 ofan information handling device 300, specifically in the sixth (6) row ofkeys. Thus, touchable control area 310 may replace some or all of theconventional sixth row (6) keys (commonly including at least“Esc”-“F12”); or, touchable control area 310 may be located elsewhere,as further described herein.

Illustrated in FIG. 4 is an example of a touchable control area 410implemented on an information handling device 400 with layers (301, 302,303 of FIG. 3) integrated in to a flat module. The example illustratedin FIG. 4 has a control area 410 sized to occupy less than the completesixth row (6) in the keyboard 420. Here, touchable control area 410 isflanked on either side by standard keyboard keys. Note that though thetouchable control sub-areas are described at times herein as replacing“key(s)”, they may not take the shape of standard mechanical keys, butmay rather be flat, logically defined areas of a touchable control areathat mimic conventional reflective displays, with added functionality(for example, for touch input and/or haptic feedback). Also illustratedin FIG. 4 is another touchable control area 403 implemented in place ofa touchpad and offering functionality equivalent thereto. That is,touchable control area 403 may accept touch-based input, andadditionally provide reflective display, haptic feedback, audiblefeedback, or some suitable combination of the foregoing.

Referring to FIG. 5, an example of changing (updating, configuring,reconfiguring) a touchable control area included in an informationhandling device is illustrated. At the outset 510, the touchable controlarea may be configured to maintain a persistent reflective display inthe power-off state. This is possible due to the fact that the touchablecontrol area does not draw much power, as reflective display layer andcapacitive touch layer (and optionally, haptic/audible layers) do notrequire much power to maintain a persistent display, et cetera. Thus,the user may configure or maintain a default power-off reflectivedisplay, such as piece of artwork, a standard set of keyboard key icons,a standard set of keyboard icons with a power-on tile, or the like, inthe power-off system state.

Responsive to the information handling device being powered on 520,which may be accomplished via touching a power-on tile of the touchablecontrol area, the touchable control area may update 530 the reflectivedisplay to include a default power-on reflective display, withassociated functionality of the tiles appropriately modified. Aspecific, non-limiting example of a power-on default configuration for atouchable control area is illustrated in FIG. 7. For example, a power-ondefault reflective display may be that of touchable control area 710 ofFIG. 7.

From the power-on default reflective display 540, an input to a controlmodule for the touchable control area may be detected 550 that indicatestile configuration(s) (in terms of reflective display of tile(s) and/orsize/shape of the tiles and/or their associated touch sense and/orhaptic/audible feedback areas, et cetera) are to be updated. Forexample, the user may open a menu for manually configuring the tiles, asdescribed herein. Other examples include the user opening anapplication, making an application an active application, connectinganother device to the information handling device, transitioning thepower state, pressing a mechanical button, pressing within/interfacingwith the touchable control area, or the like. Each of these actions mayupdate the tile configuration(s) used in the touchable control area.

For example, if an Internet browser application is opened, the touchablecontrol area tile configurations may be updated 550 from their defaultconfiguration (for example, having function key icons reflectivelydisplayed on some tiles) to an Internet browser configuration (forexample, having a home tile, a forward tile, a back tile, et cetera).Each of the updated tiles may then be associated with an updatedfunctionality. For example, a “function” tile may be updated to a “back”tile, and thus be utilized by a user to go back one page (load previouspage) in an Internet browser using the updated tile.

At some point the information handling device may be powered off 570 (orotherwise undergo a power state transition, such as to hibernate orsuspend). Responsive to the information handling device being poweredoff 570, the touchable control area again may be updated to thepersistent default reflective display (system power-off default).Accordingly, even when the device is “powered off”, the touchablecontrol area may maintain a reflective display, which again isconfigurable such that the tiles, however configured, display anappropriate reflective display in the power-off state. An example of thepower-off default display may be a reflective display of standard keysthat would normally appear in the sixth row of the user's keyboard,another example may be reflective display of customized artwork, such ascustomized text and/or graphics, et cetera.

Embodiments thus provide a touchable control area for use in connectionwith an information handling device. The touchable control area may beintegrated within the information handling device or may be included ina component used with an information handling device. Thus, for example,the touchable control area may be integrated within an informationhandling device such as a stand alone keyboard to used with anotherinformation handling device, such as a desktop computer or the like.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example method for using a touchable controlarea is illustrated. A user may provide touch-based input, such as afinger tap to an individual area or tile of the touchable control area,a finger swipe crossing multiple areas (sub-areas) of the touchablecontrol area, or multiple inputs (touch an hold, multi-finger input,gesture input, and the like) 610. The touch-based input may also includeinput using an inanimate component, such as a stylus. Moreover, thesensitivity (noise) of the capacitive sensing layer may be adjusted suchthat actually touching the touchable control area (either by way ofdirect user/finger input and/or inanimate component input) is notnecessary. Thus, “hovering” input, such as a user gesturing over thetouchable control area, or an inanimate component, such as a laptop lid,coming into proximity of the capacitive sensing layer, is ascertained astouch-based input.

Responsive to the touch-based input, the touchable control area detectsthe touch-based input 620 and provides an appropriate signal based onthe current configuration of the tile or tiles (area or areas) that havesensed the touch-based input. Responsive to detecting the touch-basedinput, an appropriate function may be executed on the informationhandling device 630. For example, a user may provide touch input to apower on tile within the touchable control area, which executes apower-on function for the information handling device. Likewise, a usermay provide input to a tile having a function key icon, whereby theassociated function (for example, “F4”) is executed, et cetera.

Referring to FIG. 7, an example of a touchable control area 710implemented on an information handling device 700 is illustrated. Here,the example touchable control area 710 is implemented as occupying partof the sixth row (6) of a standard keyboard 720, replacing the standardkeyboard keys and offering dynamically configurable functionality and/ordisplay, as further described herein. Using the reflective displaytechnology layer, different reflective displays may be displayed on eachtile, which in their current configuration are indicated by the fifteen(15) boxes outlined in the touchable control area 710. Any individualtile may contain a unique display using the reflective displaytechnology, or, a combination of some or all of the tiles may beutilized to provide a display.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, tile 704 is displayed as a hometile, with an appropriate display of a home icon contained therein. Thehome tile display may be part of a default display for the control area710. For example, the display of the tiles in touchable control area 710may be those utilized during a power-on system state, prior to the useropening any applications on the information handling device 700.

Thus, home tile 704 may be configured to sense touch input, such as asingle tap, that when sensed executes an application function, similarto a conventional touchscreen display. For example, touching the hometile 804 in a power-on state may return a user to a “home view”, such ason a tablet computing device, or may return the touchable control area710 to the power-on default configuration if pressed in an updatedconfiguration.

The other tiles in the touchable control area 710 may have otherreflective displays, such as an icon on each of the remaining tilesindicating the function associated with touching the tiles, for examplethe functions associated with the standard keyboard keys that the tilesreplace. Additional or other display/functionality may be associatedwith the tiles as well. For example, tile 705 may be a menu tile, withan appropriate visual icon displayed using reflective display technologyof the tile 705 area. Responsive to touching the menu tile 705, a menumay be launched, allowing the user to view a menu on a display device706 of the information handling device. For example, the menu mayinclude selectable user options for editing tile configurations of thetouchable control area 710.

The tiles of the touchable control area 710 are configurable. This maybe a user or manual configuration, for example via a menu interface asdescribed above, or an automatic configuration, such as for exampleresponsive to power state, device orientation, open application(s)detected or functions executed therein, time of day, lightingconditions, connected devices, user history, or the like. The tiles areconfigurable in that the actual area occupied by the tile may bechanged, such as changing the tile shapes to create different reflectivedisplays/touch zones/haptic feedback/audible feedback areas. Forexample, if a user opens or brings to the foreground a particular(active) application or enters a particular power state, the touchablecontrol area may update the reflective display (of one or more of thetiles) and/or the touch zones to appropriately match the use condition.

In FIG. 8(A-D) an example of user configuring of a touchable controlarea 810(A-D) of information handling device 800(A-D) is illustrated. Auser may open an interface 807A on main display 806A, for example via asingle tap on a menu tile (705 of FIG. 7), that displays a plurality ofconfiguration options on main display 806A. One configuration option,808A, may be to update the configuration of the touchable control area810A. At 808A is an icon indicating that update to touchable controlarea 810A is available.

Turning to FIG. 8B, if a user decides to update touchable control area810B, for example via selecting icon 808A, an interface 811B is providedon main display 806B. The interface 811B provides options for thesub-areas (tiles) of touchable control area 810B that the user mayselect, as well as additional icons (such as touchable control areaconfiguration and a back icon, 815B). Thus, if the user would like toupdate any particular area with one of the options in 811B, the user maysimply select the option and provide an indication of where on thetouchable control area 810B the updated sub-area should be placed. Forexample, the user may select option 812B, which may be a browser tile(as further described herein), for example by clicking on it in the maindisplay, and dragging it to the appropriate area on touchable controlarea 810B.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 8C, the user may select an option in interface811C and drag the icon 812C in the direction of a slot 813C thatcorresponds to the sub-area within the touchable control area 810C to beupdated. As illustrated in FIG. 8D, once the user completes the drag anddrop action, an embodiment automatically updates touchable control area810D at the indicated sub-area 814D to match the option selected. Thisupdating may include an update to the reflective display provided atsub-area 814D as well as the functionality associated therewith. Forexample, this may update the sub-area 814D from a default home tile toanother, such as a browser tile, or the like. It is worth noting herethat although discrete tiles are illustrated, these are configurablesuch that the shapes, sizes and number of tiles may be changed. Forexample, in one configuration, a touchable control area may include onlyone tile or area, whereas in another configuration, the touchablecontrol area may contain a plurality of sub-areas, which may be ofdifferent size.

As shown in FIG. 9(A-B), a user may also update/configure the touchablecontrol area 910A in other ways. For example, configuration of touchablecontrol area 910A may be dependent upon a button press, such as pressinga mechanical “control” key 920A on a standard keyboard layout.Responsive to press of the control key 920A, a current configuration ofthe touchable control area 910A may be updated to another configuration.Similarly, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, press of another button such as amechanical “function” key 905B on a standard keyboard layout may updatethe touchable control area 910B to another configuration, in which thesub-areas of the touchable control area 910B are updated.

Referring to FIG. 10(A-C), a touchable control area may be updatedautomatically, such as responsive to opening of particular applications.For example, in FIG. 7, touchable control area 710 may at first beconfigured to display tile icons of a power-on default setting, forexample including tiles indicating functions of standard function keysvia use of appropriate reflective displays and associated touch zones.The power-on default may include a home key 704. Responsive to openingan application, such as an Internet browser opened on main displaydevice 1006A, touchable control area 1010A may be updated to display abrowser tile (“BRS”, 1005A) in place of a menu tile (705 of FIG. 7).

As shown in FIG. 10B, responsive to a user selection of the browser tile1005A, such as by a single tap on BRS the 1005B, touchable control areamay be updated to display browser related tiles such as back “<”,forward “>”, refresh/reload “Refresh”, home page “Home Pg”, new tab “NewTab”, “Tab 1”, bookmarks 1-3 “BK 1-3”, recently viewed pages “Rec”,favorites “Fav”, and the home tile 1004B. Each of these tiles may thushave functionality associated therewith allowing the user to interfacewith (touch) the tile to execute a function. For example, by touchingthe back “<” tile, the user may navigate to an immediately previouslyviewed page within the Internet browser application. If the user selectsthe home tile 1004B from the updated touchable control area 1010C, thetouchable control area may return to the power-on default.

Likewise, if another application is opened or toggled to, such as aspreadsheet application, the touchable control area 1010C may be updatedwith sub-areas to match functions available with the spreadsheetapplication. Thus, responsive to opening a spreadsheet application,touchable control area 1010C may be updated to include display of aspreadsheet tile “SPR” 1005C. Responsive to selection of the spreadsheettile 1005C, the touchable control area may be configured to update to areflective display of tiles such as “Help”, edit cell “Edit”, paste name“Paste”, repeat last “Rept”, “Go To”, next pane “next”, spell check “SpChk”, extend mode “Extend”, calculate all “Calc”, “Menu”, create chart“Chart”, save as “Save”, and a spreadsheet tile “SPR” 1005C. Again, eachof these tiles may thus have functionality associated therewith allowingthe user to interface with (touch) the tile to execute a function. Here,the tiles are updated to textually display the functions available to auser for operating shortcuts in a spreadsheet application, in this casevia single touch of a given tile in touchable control area 1010C.

It should be noted that the touchable control areas 1010(A-C) mayautomatically update responsive to an application event, such as openingthe application, making the open application an active application fromamong a plurality of opened applications, an event within an application(for example, a file opening event), such that the user need not touch aspecific tile to initiate the further update of the touchable controlarea, as in the examples where the user touches the browser orspreadsheet tiles to update the configuration.

For example, a touchable control area according to embodiments isconfigurable to dynamically update based on the active application (forexample, a foreground window). In a “dynamic mode,” the area may changecontrols if user switches from application A to application B as theactive application, respectively. Additionally, a current action withinan application may trigger an update of the configurable area(s). Forexample, an incoming call within an open application may bringphone-related controls to into the configurable area. In this case, thatapplication being monitored may be open (in background) or be active.Also, based on a state of an application and content shown on anotherdisplay (for example, on the main LCD of a notebook PC), theconfigurable area may update to compliment content on the other display.As example, a user utilizing a presentation application may go intopresentation mode on the main LCD of the computer. When this is noticed(for example, by a control module), the touchable control area maypresent speaker notes which would otherwise not be visible inpresentation mode.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or more information handlingdevices configured appropriately to execute program instructionsconsistent with the functionality of the embodiments as describedherein. In this regard, FIGS. 1-2 illustrate non-limiting examples ofsuch devices and components thereof. While mobile computing systems suchas tablet computers, laptop computers, e-readers, and smart phones havebeen specifically mentioned as examples herein, embodiments may beimplemented using other systems or devices, such as desktops,workstations, servers, stand alone keyboards and key pads (numeric, CAD,et cetera), stylus/finger touchpads with control button functions,remote controls and the like.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may beembodied as a system, method or computer (device) program product.Accordingly, aspects may take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment or an embodiment including software that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,aspects may take the form of a computer (device) program productembodied in one or more computer (device) readable medium(s) havingcomputer (device) readable program code embodied therewith.

Any combination of one or more non-signal computer (device) readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The non-signal medium may be a storagemedium. A storage medium may be, for example, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specificexamples of a storage medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

Program code for carrying out operations may be written in anycombination of one or more programming languages. The program code mayexecute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as astand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly onanother device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, thedevices may be connected through any type of network, including a localarea network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection maybe made through other devices (for example, through the Internet usingan Internet Service Provider) or through a hard wire connection, such asover a USB connection.

Aspects are described herein with reference to the figures, whichillustrate example methods, devices and program products according tovarious example embodiments. It will be understood that the actions andfunctionality illustrated may be implemented at least in part by programinstructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processorof a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing device or information handling device toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via aprocessor of the device implement the functions/acts specified.

The program instructions may also be stored in a device readable mediumthat can direct a device to function in a particular manner, such thatthe instructions stored in the device readable medium produce an articleof manufacture including instructions which implement the function/actspecified.

The program instructions may also be loaded onto a device to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed on the device to produce adevice implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe device provide processes for implementing the functions/actsspecified.

This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain principles and practical application, and to enable others ofordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to beunderstood that this description is not limiting and that various otherchanges and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in theart without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing a firstconfiguration for one or more areas of a touchable control area of aninformation handling device, said first configuration comprising adesignation of one or more areas of said touchable control area, saidone or more areas providing both reflective display and acceptingtouch-based input, wherein said reflective display substantially onlydraws power when the display contents are changed; ascertaining a powerstate transition; and updating, responsive to the ascertained powerstate transition, said first configuration for said one or more areas ofsaid touchable control area to a second configuration, wherein saidsecond configuration corresponds to a predetermined graphic associatedwith the ascertained power state; wherein said touchable control area isdisposed in place of a portion of a standard physical component of saidinformation handling device, other than said display device, andprovides functionality equivalent thereto in one or more configurations.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the ascertaining a power statetransition comprises at least one of: powering down, entering sleepmode, entering suspend mode, and entering hibernation mode.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising ascertaining a device relatedevent.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said device related eventcomprises one or more of: detection of a connected device; and activitydetected on a detected device.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein saidupdating is associated with one or more of: a power-off of theinformation handling device; a power-on of the information handlingdevice; a hibernation of the information handling device; and asuspension of the information handling device.
 6. The method of claim 3,further comprising ascertaining a user input event, wherein said userinput event comprises a touch-based input event provided to said one ormore areas of said touchable control area, wherein said input providedto said one or more areas of said touchable control area is selectedfrom the group consisting of: a finger tap within one or more of saidone or more areas of said touchable control area; a multi-touch eventwithin one or more of said one or more areas of said touchable controlarea; a touch and hold event within one or more of said one or moreareas of said touchable control area; and a gesture event detectable byone or more of said one or more areas of said touchable control area,wherein said user input event updates one or more areas of saidtouchable control area.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said userinput event comprises a touch-based input event provided to said one ormore areas of said touchable control area, wherein an updatedconfiguration of said one or more areas of said touchable control areais maintained until a touch and hold event is released.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising, returning said one or more areas of saidtouchable control areas to a previous configuration responsive torelease of said touch and hold event.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinsaid one or more areas of said touchable control area comprises aplurality of logically defined sub-areas.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein said logically defined sub-areas are reconfigured responsive tothe ascertained power state to other logically defined sub-areas havingupdated reflective displays and updated touch-zones.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said touchable control area is selected from the groupconsisting of a reflective display layer, a capacitive sensing layer; anaudible feedback layer, and a haptic feedback layer.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising ascertaining a history of usedconfigurations of said one or more areas of said touchable control areaand updating said configuration based at least in part responsive toconsulting said history of used configurations of said one or more areasof said touchable control area.
 13. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising, updating said configuration to configure one or more of saidareas of said touchable control area to frequently used configurations.14. The method of claim 1, further comprising returning said one or moreareas of said touchable control areas to a previous configurationresponsive to touch-based input to said one or more areas of saidtouchable control area.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein saidtouch-based input to said one or more areas of said touchable controlarea comprises a touch-based input to a home tile in said touchablecontrol area.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein responsive totouch-based input to said home tile, said information handling deviceupdates a configuration for one or more areas on a touchable controlarea to a home view.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein said touchablecontrol area comprises a non-back lit reflective display layer.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein said non-back lit reflective display layeroverlays a touch sensitive display layer.
 19. An information handlingdevice comprising: one or more processors; a display device; a touchablecontrol area; and a memory device; wherein, responsive to execution ofcomputer program instructions accessible to the one or more processors,the one or more processors: provide a first configuration for one ormore areas of the touchable control area, said first configurationcomprising a designation of one or more areas of said touchable controlarea, said one or more areas providing both reflective display andaccepting touch-based input, wherein said reflective displaysubstantially only draws power when the display contents are changed;ascertain a power state transition event for updating said firstconfiguration for said one or more areas of said touchable control areato a power state specific configuration, the power state transitionevent comprising at least one of powering down, entering sleep mode,entering suspend mode, and entering hibernation mode; and update,responsive to the ascertained power state transition, said firstconfiguration for said one or more areas of said touchable control areato a second configuration, wherein said second configuration correspondsto a predetermined graphic associated with the ascertained power state;wherein said touchable control area is disposed in place of a portion ofa standard component of said information handling device, other thansaid display device, and provides functionality equivalent thereto inone or more configurations.
 20. A program product comprising: a storagedevice having program code embodied therewith, the program codecomprising: computer readable program code that provides a firstconfiguration for one or more areas of a touchable control area of aninformation handling device, said first configuration comprising adesignation of one or more areas of said touchable control area, saidone or more areas providing both reflective display and acceptingtouch-based input, wherein said reflective display substantially onlydraws power when the display contents are changed; computer readableprogram code configured to ascertain a power state transition event forupdating said first configuration for said one or more areas of saidtouchable control area to a power state specific configuration, thepower state transition event comprising at least one of powering down,entering sleep mode, entering suspend mode, and entering hibernationmode; and computer readable program code configured to update said firstconfiguration for said one or more areas of said touchable control areato a second configuration responsive to said power state transitionevent, wherein said second configuration corresponds to a predeterminedgraphic associated with the ascertained power state; wherein saidtouchable control area is disposed in place of a portion of a standardcomponent of said information handling device, other than said displaydevice, and provides functionality equivalent thereto in one or moreconfigurations.